The world’s leading authority on food crises said Friday it has determined that famine is occurring in Gaza City, and is likely to spread to other cities without a ceasefire or an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid.

Palestinians fled parts of Gaza City Thursday after the Israeli military began the first stages of its planned offensive — as officials vowed to completely obliterate the “battered and

Israel is in discussions with South Sudan about the possibility of resettling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the war-torn East African country, part of a wider effort by Israel to facilitate mass emigration from the territory left in ruins by its 22-month offensive against Hamas.

Thousands of Palestinians have fled their homes in Gaza City, as the Israeli military continues its assault on the enclave ahead of a planned occupation. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he would give final approval for a full takeover,

More and more Palestinians are calling on Hamas to step down and end the war with Israel that has devastated their home land, with the terror group allegedly executing its critics, according to

The plan would envisage people moving from an enclave shattered by almost two years of war with Israel to a nation in the heart of Africa riven by political and ethnically-driven violence.

The State Department said it was halting all visas for Palestinians from Gaza, including medical visas for children.

An eyewitness told CBS News that American subcontractors at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites shot at Palestinians, a claim GHF denies.